New Delhi, Dec 25 (IANS) Reacting sharply to the prime minister’s working group suggestion of considering autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir, Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Arun Jaitley, who was a member of the panel, Friday said he was not consulted before finalising the recommendation.
Jaitley has written a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh complaining that the recommendations of the fifth working group on centre-state ties were a farce.

The group, headed by Justice (retd) Saghir Ahmed submitted its report to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Wednesday.

A surprised Jaitley asked: “Whose report is it? Is it an opinion of a retired judge of the Supreme Court? A judge by training is not competent to comment on sensitive political issues.”

In his letter to the prime minister, the BJP leader has complained that he had not received any communication with regard to any meeting for even discussing the report of this group.

“I have not seen any draft report of this group nor has the same ever been circulated. As per the record available with me, no meeting of this group has been held since Sep 3, 2007,” Jaitley said in the letter.

A copy of the letter has also been sent to Omar Abdullah.

The BJP has been demanding abrogation of Article 370 that gives special status to Jammu and Kashmir.